I’ve had a lifelong obsession with the JFK assassination and I love movies so it was pretty cool to have both converge in a weird way.
No Country For Old Men is streaming again and there’s a scene where the sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) is bemoaning the state of the world by referencing the assassination of a State Supreme Court judge in Texas where the movie is based.
The crime was real. Judge John Wood was murdered by a hitman in 1979 hired by a drug dealer. I was aware of the case because this same hitman had made claims to being involved in the JFK assassination.
In the film, Woody Harrelson plays a private detective trying to track down the suitcase of cash as is the hitman.
The assassin ends up killing Woody Harrelson’s character (as he kills pretty much everyone he comes into contact with.)
The hitman hired by drug dealers kills Woody Harrelson’s character.
The hitman hired by drug dealers to kill the judge in 1979 was Woody’s father, Charles Harrelson.
Do you think the Coen Brothers knew this? Has anyone ever asked about that connection? Or am I reading too much into a coincidence?
I've read this before and I immediately came to the conclusion.
The Coen Brothers knew this and approached Woody to play the part while also explaining it was in the movie because it did attach what his father had done, or even asking if he agreed with it. I also thought if it was just a massive coincidence then I'm 100% sure Woody would have mentioned something when reading the script! I mean something like "What the f***, that's what my Dad did... Should someone not have mentioned this to me when offering me the part!!?"
In truth, I'm sure they knew and it would not surprise me if that is the reason they asked Woody to be in the movie, it really seems like something the Coen Brothers would do.
27
WezbobMar 22, 2026
+18
Agreed, mostly because the Coen Brothers are absolutely meticulous about details. They don't flaunt it in their movies' exposition or make it obvious with 'look what we did here' moments, but it's very much one of the things that makes their movies stand out. Even if Woody wasn't chosen for this reason, I'm with you in that they knew, and likely discussed it with him.
18
CzechanoMar 22, 2026
+30
There's even more to this. The drug dealer that hired Woody's dad was Jimmy Chagra - whom Chigurh is loosely modeled after. Cormac McCarthy moved to El Paso right around the time of Chagra's arrest and trial.
30
stoneman9284Mar 22, 2026
+53
New shit has come to light
53
Jaxstraw1313Mar 22, 2026
+1
I can’t be the first one to have made that connection.
1
stoneman9284Mar 22, 2026
+7
Probably not haha. I’ve heard about the judge part but not the woody connection. There’s no way the Coens didn’t know though. Pretty cool.
7
warlocktxMar 22, 2026
+14
I guarantee that they were aware of this. It's pretty common knowledge that Woody's dad is a convicted murderer.
14
rojoshow13Mar 22, 2026
+5
I didn't know that and I've been watching Woody since he was on Cheers. And even reading this post I thought OP was saying Woody's dad was the judge who was killed.
5
RuPaulverMar 22, 2026
+5
This was originally a reference in the book, which they utilized in the movie. I don't doubt that they knew this when they brought Woody in.
5
Tonythetiger1701Mar 22, 2026
+2
You have to watch The Package from 1989 Plot: Gene Hackman plays Army Sergeant Johnny Gallagher, who is tasked with escorting a military prisoner, Thomas Boyette (played by Tommy Lee Jones), from Europe back to the U.S.. When the prisoner escapes, Gallagher discovers a conspiracy involving high-ranking military officials plotting a political assassination to sabotage a Cold War disarmament treaty.
JFK Connection: The film is often described as having parallels to JFK conspiracy theories, specifically acting as a "modern" or "80s version" of a Kennedy-Oswald type scenario.
What's even strange is that real news reporter that was on the scene Ika Poppas when Lee Harvey Oswald got shot in Dallas texas is in the movie the package as a news reporter.
Other honorable mention is the movie slacker
In Richard Linklater's 1990 cult film Slacker, Dallas City Archivist John Slate appears as a Kennedy assassination conspiracy theorist. Slate, who co-developed a 1988 Dallas tour called Conspiracy A-Go-Go, plays a character discussing JFK in the Austin-based indie film. The film, known for its focus on Texas subculture, premiered in July 1990.
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
John Slate in Slacker: Slate played a conspiracy theorist in the film and later reprised this role in a 2011 short.
Conspiracy A-Go-Go": Slate was involved in this 1988 project, which likely influenced his role in the film.
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
For more information, you can explore the oral history of John H. Slate from The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.
2
coleman57Mar 22, 2026
+3
Speaking of scuttling disarmament treaties, there’s a theory that the reason the CIA did nothing to block a Marine who worked on the U2 spy plane base from defecting to the Soviet Union was so he could give them the info they needed to shoot one down, scuttling the first scheduled summit meeting between Eisenhower and Kruschev.
3
Demander850Mar 22, 2026
+1
This guy knows his JFK connections in films!
1
curak76Mar 22, 2026
+1
And Tommy Lee Jones was in JFK(1991). The plot thickens...
1
Jaxstraw1313Mar 23, 2026
+1
Now I’ve got more movies to watch.😀
1
BrunttiMar 22, 2026
+1
That's wild
1
thiccndipMar 22, 2026
They probably added it to the script after Woody told them the story
0
Jaxstraw1313Mar 23, 2026
+1
No, it’s mentioned in the book as well.
1
iz-MoffMar 22, 2026
I'd imagine they knew about it, but there probably wasn't any intention to casting Harrelson in connection to it.
So this hitman had a son, who grew up to be an actor, and starred in a movie where his old man's crime is mentioned in passing. 🤷♂️ If there is some meta commentary or a point to be made here, i really don't see what could it be. I think it is just a coincidence.
0
Jaxstraw1313Mar 22, 2026
-2
Do you know where you may have read this before?
Maybe Woody was nowhere around for that scene and was oblivious to the reference of the case?
19 Comments